


26

by Aliena (ChokolatteJedi)



Category: Original Work
Genre: Early Work, Gen, Poetry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-10-11
Updated: 2004-10-11
Packaged: 2018-05-21 22:05:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6059748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChokolatteJedi/pseuds/Aliena





	26

On the planet of Erutan  
An ancient race once lived  
In peaceful coexistence with all creatures.  
They knew nothing of technology  
Until an exploration team from Earth,  
Determined to find a new planet to ruin  
Happened upon them.  
They brought with them all the staples of life  
In the universe as they knew it:  
Technology, corruption, lies, weapons,  
Pollution, greed, and self-absorption.  
They also brought some of the better  
Human possessions: curiosity, inventiveness,  
Independence, chocolate, and religion.  
But the greatest thing they brought was  
Knowledge.  
It was knowledge that hooked the Erutans:  
Knowledge and a burning thirst for it  
That drove them from their rural life.  
They searched the universe for centuries  
Making copies of every book they found  
They learned all the languages of the galaxy  
They translated text after text  
They even hunted down cultures  
With no written language and recorded their tales.  
They were so busy, in fact,  
They never created a written language of their own  
They were too busy learning every one else’s.  
Gradually, their library grew too large,  
Huge chunks of the planet were devoted to it  
Scholars from all over the universe came,  
Offering new texts and studying the ones there  
Mile after mile of the planet slipped away,  
Converted into another wing of the library.  
Eventually, the entire planet was taken over  
By the sprawling mass that was the library  
Entire families, the products of lost scholars,  
Were born, lived, and died amidst  
The towering stacks and shelves,  
Only knowing of the outside world,  
From the passages in the books they read.


End file.
